The electric motor is twice as powerful as the old air-cooled internal combustion engine.

Zelectric Motors

Your other option for an electric Microbus is to wait for VW to finally build a production version of this, the BUDD-e.

Jonathan Gitlin

Was your first car a Volkswagen Beetle? Do you pine after it while simultaneously wanting something a little more environmentally friendly than the old, air-cooled, flat four engine? Good news! Zelectric Motors in San Diego is here to save the day. The company is in the business of restoring old VW Beetles, Microbuses, Karmann Ghias, and Things, updating them with fully electric powertrains.

Nostalgia is a powerful thing in the car world. Car makers will happily dust off an old classic and use it as the base for a concept car, safe in the knowledge that it will grab headlines and the attention of potential customers with fond memories of the originals. Volkswagen is particularly good at this tactic, selling thousands upon thousands of modern Beetles that call back to the rear-engined classic.

But modern interpretations aren't everyone's cup of tea, so there's a growing industry of companies ready to update your beloved classic for you. Porschephiles can spend big bucks with Magnus or Singer, Jaguar E-type fanatics have Eagle, and you can now even buy a brand new Delorean DMC. But if your taste runs to the original people's car, you need to speak to Zelectric.

Further Reading

The ZelectricBug starts off as an older (1958-1966) VW beetle. Out goes that old air-cooled engine, replaced with an 85hp (63kW) electric motor—double the horsepower of the original internal combustion engine—and a 22kWh lithium iron phosphate battery, good for between 80 and 100 miles. Zelectric also upgrades the transmission to cope with more torque (120ft-lbs/163Nm), and the batteries are said to be good for at least 160,000 miles.

The car is not especially cheap, however. Turnkey ZelectricBugs start at $68,000 (~£47,000), or the company will retrofit your own car from $49,000. Microbus rebuilds start at $55,000, and the company says it will also convert air-cooled Porsches (356s, 911s, 912s, and so on) as well as Fiat 500s. Of course, it's possible to do this kind of thing yourself, as Jonny Smith in the UK proved with his Flux Capacitor, but not everyone has Smith's skills or determination (or ever-growing collection of project cars).